Hi Linda,
Can you play a provisional ball, to save time, if you
think your ball might be lost or unplayable on a thick bush through the green?
Thanks,
Lou from the Philippines
Dear Lou,
Yes and no.
The purpose of hitting a provisional ball is to save time, and you should hit one any time
your ball may be lost or out of bounds. (The only time you may not hit a
provisional ball is when you are certain you hit the original into a water
hazard.) So if you suspect your ball may be lost in a thick bush, by all means
please hit a provisional [Rule 27-2].).
On the other hand, if you wish to declare the ball you hit
into the bush “unplayable,” you may hit
another ball under stroke and distance. This
second ball is not a provisional ball; it is your ball in play, and includes a
one-stroke penalty.
If you think your original may be lost in the bush, and you
hit a provisional, you will have to
continue play with the original if you find it. If the original is unplayable,
you have three choices under Rule 28, all of which include one penalty stroke:
drop within two club-lengths, no closer to the hole; drop on the line-of-sight
to the hole; or play under stroke and distance. If you choose the
stroke-and-distance option, you will hit another ball from where you previously
hit the original ball. You will have to return to that spot to hit another
ball; you may not continue with the provisional ball if the original is found.
If you hit your original into the bush, decide to declare it
unplayable, and immediately hit
another ball, that second ball is your ball in play under stroke and distance [Rule 28a]. If you subsequently find
the ball in the bush, it goes into your pocket. Note that the
stroke-and-distance option is the only relief option for an unplayable ball
that does not require that you first identify your ball [Decision 28/1].
Linda
Copyright © 2013 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
